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Video:How it came to be

Not a demo. A conversation between Ian VK1HF and Ed K5YZW about how RS1 came about — the noise floor, the dead ends, the networking problem nobody could get past, and the bit that finally worked.

Ian VK1HF & Ed K5YZW · about 1 hr 16 min · watch on YouTube →

Before You Start

This is a conversation, not a production. It is really audio with a picture attached.

Put it on while you walk, drive or do the dishes. Skip ahead as much as you like — the chapters below jump the player straight to the part you care about.

Ian VK1HF and Ed K5YZW on RS1: a FlexRadio running remotely over Starlink, with nothing on site but the radio, a Raspberry Pi and a WireGuard tunnel to a cheap cloud VM.

It is the story of how it came about rather than a walkthrough of how to build one — two operators on opposite sides of the world, each stuck on a problem, working out between them what the answer looked like.

What Is Actually In It

Three boxes, and one of them is rented

On site

FlexRadio 6700. Raspberry Pi 3B with a USB Ethernet dongle. A 4-relay board on the GPIO. Starlink — residential at ALAMO, a Mini on 12 V at IKARA.

Cloud

A WireGuard tunnel to a $5-a-month VM: Vultr Dallas for ALAMO, AWS Lightsail Sydney for IKARA.

Operator end

Maestro and a paddle, or SmartSDR on a Mac or iPad. No PC on site, no web switches, no keying boxes.

Who This Is For

Anyone who lost their antenna space

Apartment living, an HOA or body corporate, health, retirement — whatever took the antennas away. And anyone who has been told “you can’t do remote over Starlink”.

If that is you, the satisfaction page makes the case in writing rather than on video.

Chapters

Jump to the part you want

It is a long conversation. These jump the player above — no need to sit through the rest.

0:00Intro — who we are and what RS1 is 1:17Ed’s story: licensed at 12, 67 years of CW 3:45Selling the house, HOA antennas, and the Flex bought in 2019 7:30Ian’s story: networking guy, Navy radio tech, coast stations 12:35The noise floor problem — solar and suburban RF 14:06Looking for a split-site radio: Flex, Steve VK6SJ, the Maestro 19:19The networking problem: CGNAT and “never span the LAN across the WAN” 22:41Starlink first impressions, and coming to Flex begrudgingly 24:28How Ed and Ian met — the Flex Community post 30:08Bunka, IKARA and Alamo — the two reference sites 32:45Ed’s challenge: a ranch with power but no internet 34:28Starlink works — what it is like from Ed’s desk 37:15Why not ZeroTier or Tailscale — nothing special on the client end 41:19The secret sauce: Pi 3B, Starlink into the Pi, Pi into the 6700 43:46The exit node: WireGuard tunnel to a cloud VM, and the first CW test 47:27No more boxes: MH Cozy web switches vs a GPIO relay board 50:34CW remotely without a keyer box — Maestro Smart Control 53:23Keys on iPads and Windows: key-to-MIDI, VBand, CW Hotline 56:36Ed on daily use: 35–40 WPM contest CW, no lag, good reports 59:22No PC on site: software updates and the stuck reboot 1:03:04Inside IKARA: the off-grid comms box on a trailer 1:05:34RS1 Core and modules, open source plans, wanted: more sites 1:08:03Why share it? Flex could build a “Flexit node” 1:09:15Who this is for — seniors, HOA living, Ian’s dad 1:13:43Wanted: a techie in Europe or the US to replicate it 1:15:28Wrap-up: no like-and-subscribe, just email us
Mentioned In The Video
Where To Next

If that sounded like something you want

Build

Do it yourself

RS1.CORE and the modules are heading for open source, and we are looking for three stations to work closely with — one in Australia, one in New Zealand, one in the UK.

Build it yourself →
Buy

Have one built

RS1 and RS1M are the same architecture, engineered, tested and handed over on air, owned outright from day one.

RS1 specification & pricing →

Questions after watching?

No need to like, subscribe or comment. If it is useful to someone, just send it to them — and if you have questions, email.

ian@iangilchrist.net